Month: March 2013

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s treasurer wants to make higher education more affordable for all students and has proposed selling $500 million in bonds for a permanent fund for student aid. Bills that would implement the ideas passed the Senate Education and Work Force Committee on Thursday. The proposals face several legislative hurdles, but lawmakers

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s treasurer wants to make higher education more affordable for all students and has proposed selling $500 million in bonds for a permanent fund for student aid. Bills that would implement the ideas passed the Senate Education and Work Force Committee on Thursday. The proposals face several legislative hurdles, but lawmakers

The Meissner Nordic Club is a community ski club that has been helping groom the Virginia Meissner Snow-Park for the past 20 years. But their current groomer has run its course. The only way the trails were groomed this weekend for skiers is because of a demo of the new groomer the club hopes to

A pub crawl staged in Bend on Saturday afternoon had a bigger goal than many — to help eradicate polio worldwide. Polio, the deadly disease, has been around since Egyptian times. Currently, three countries continue to deal with the problem. A dozen local pubs sponsored Saturday’s crawl, which was put on by the Rotary Club

A destructive, unsettling string of fires that heavily damaged two downtown Bend church buildings, two detached garages, two parked cars and a woodpile early Wednesday have fire investigators looking for what happened – and police anxious to know if they are hunting for a serial arsonist. Authorities were wary late Wednesday of calling the fires

A new report issued by the National Interagency Coordination Center in Boise shows large wildfires across the U.S. racked up a bill of nearly $580 million last year. The same report shows Oregon had the two largest, by acreage, wildfires in the U.S. It was fires like the Long Draw and Holloway blazes that ran

A Prineville man was pulled over and arrested on attempted murder and other charges Friday afternoon, minutes after he allegedly fired at least two gunshots during a domestic dispute at his daughter’s Tumalo home — one of which broke glass that wounded the woman, authorities said. Deschutes County sheriff’s dispatchers got a report around 2:23

Bend resident Steve Mulkey loves living in Central Oregon, but he’s no stranger to a suitcase. “Last year, I spent over $75,000 on air travel,” Mulkey said Friday. His work in television takes him all over the world. Many of his clients are in Los Angeles — and that means layovers and more time away

Trinity Episcopal church was heavily damaged in a string of arson fires set in Bend early Wednesday morning, and church members got to see the damage left behind for the first time Friday. “The outside is bad enough, but when you go inside, that’s where the family lives,” said the Rev. Roy Green. “So that’s

National Credit Works hit Oregon like a whirlwind in 2010. The Virginia Beach, Va.-based company began making untold numbers of phone calls to Oregon consumers, demanding they repay their debts or face dire consequences. The National Credit Works employees were sometimes obscene, bullying, and almost always threatening serious repercussions in the event of non-payment. It

The Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation launched a new component to their Lions Eyeglass Assistance Program this year. In addition to distributing used readers to people in need, now through a partnership with Vision Service Plan and Prevent Blindness America, OLSHF and the 175 Oregon Lions Clubs will provide free eye exams and eyeglasses

A Prineville log-truck driver had a not-so-great day Thursday when his too-tall load of logs snagged power lines northeast of town, pulling down about 500 feet of lines and two power poles, blocking a road and knocking out power to about 200 customers, authorities said. Crook County sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Chapman said Oregon State Police

Caldera is pleased to announce a call for applications for its 2014 Artist in Residence program. Every winter from January through March, creative individuals and collaborative groups from all over the world are welcomed to Caldera Arts Center in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains near Sisters, Oregon for one-month long residencies. Because we believe

Donations of clothing, sleeping bags and blankets have completely dried up at The Shepherd’s House. The organization has very few of these items to share with the homeless and people in need. There have been a few sunny days in the Bend area recently, but night time temperatures still drop into the 20s, making warm

In April of 2012, Central Oregonians packed the Summit High School auditorium to soak in the region’s first TEDx conference. Tickets sold out weeks in advance, inspiring the addition of a live video broadcast to accommodate the overflow of TED enthusiasts eager to be part of the local movement. As a result of the positive

Training to become a Certified Ombudsman Volunteer will be held beginning April 9 in the Bend area. They advocate for senior citizens who are living in long term care facilities. Certified Ombudsman Volunteers are appointed by the State Ombudsman and are trained to educate, investigate and advocate and learn to be a “problem solver.” There

On the same day the federal government reported a 7.7 percent unemployment rate for February, the lowest since 2008, the state Employment Department reported Friday that Central Oregon continues to have some of the state’s highest jobless rates. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for January saw little movement compared to December, the new report said. Deschutes

Seven fires that broke out within minutes in downtown Bend, heavily damaging an historic church and other structures and cars, appear to be the work of a serial arsonist, police said late Thursday as they announced a reward of up to $10,000 in hopes of finding those responsible. Bend police and fire investigators are working

With the recent massacres here in the U.S. many have turned to guns, but for some that lethal option is not one they are willing to take. A new trend… using household items to fend off an attacker. A few comments from a question we posed on our Facebook page… “I have wasp spray next

Last week, in a NewsChannel 21 First at Ten on Fox exclusive, we brought you the story of the growing heroin epidemic on the High Desert. We spoke to an undercover drug officer who warned of the risk of gateway drugs and drug use by minors. But Central Oregon law enforcement says when it comes